Camp J Sunday August 9, 2015--the afternoon

Craig picked us up and we departed on an short hop to see the elephants taking a bath and playing in the water. I think the pics say it all.

 And  some warthogs came to join the elephants at the pond.

Then we are back to the villa for short rest. Felice and I walked to the main lodge to check it out. There was a small shop, wine cellar and the main lodge with a lake next to it. We had a nice chat with the office manager. She lived in Kansas for a while.

At 3:30 Craig picked us up for the afternoon game drive. We took the RR out to a different part of the park. It was quite a while (30 minutes)  before we saw anything of significance. We circled a water hole and got up close to some more White Rhinos. These had birds on them getting parasites as you can see here.

The guy in the pic below is a Waterbuck. Notice the distinctive markings around the butt?

After more time driving around, Craig got a sense that we might see some lions. He was right. Here we have 3 lioness, 2 cubs and the other big daddy Lion of the park. We got really up close to these cats, as the pictures tell the story. The male was obscured so we have no pics of him.

Vultures

 Acacia Tree

Then we made our way to Sundowners. I had a Castle, the local beer and some tasty treats that chef made. Then we were off to our evening elephant ride. This trip left from a whole different place than the first night and ended up at the elephant paddock. It was lovely seeing the sun set and we encountered impala and then saw 3 lionesses. It was quite surreal to see the lions from the back of an elephant. The kids got to ride on Jambulani, the namesake of our accommodations.

We then went on an evening game drive and Craig was determined to find the lions again. We knew, since the Impalas were close by, that the lions would be stalking them. Sure enough he found them. Four lionesses hanging out by a watering hole. They could care less that we were there and Craig called them “Flat Cats” since they just laid down.

Then we came back to the room, grabbed a shower and went to a superb dinner at the lodge and Craig joined us and regaled us with stories. 

In the pic belwo in the back row from Left to right is RB, Obert, Chef Alex and Craig.